Dallas Hazmat Rescue Unit

My FAJ Came Today!

I am excited. My favorite magazine, FAJ came one week BEFORE the month it starts. This has been for the past few issues. Before that, I wouldn't get them until weeks after the latest edition came out.


Little things that make my day.

24 Hours In The ER On BBC America

For anyone luck enough to recieve BBC America,then you'll know all the awesome programming on there. My favorite is BBC News America, which is probaly the most objective, informative, and no-agenda newscast nowadays.

Anyways, there is a 14 episode dcoumentary series on BBC America called "24 Hours In The ER". Basically, for those that remember it, it's like "Trauma, Life in the ER", but this one takes place at one of the busiest ER's in London, at Kings College Hospital.

It was filmed 24 hours a day over 30 days with 70 strategically placed cameras.

It's quite fascinating to see the differences between the UK and US, and the similarities. It's also very interesting to hear the insight of the staff.

Check your local listings.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/447/24-hours-in-the-er-about-the-show.jsp

On my way home yesterday northbound on I-35 service road, I saw a small plume of smoke. I looked over to the southbound service road (Pflugerville-Round Rock TX) and saw a brush fire growing with heavy fuel and light wind gusts propelling the fire. No PD of FD on scene yet. Given the amount of smoke and the fact a brush unit was putting out a fire on the other side of the highway, I assumed 911 had been called. I noticed it was close to involving a cabinet company showroom and manufacturing plant.

The staff of the cabinet store were trying to keep the fire back with garden hoses and fire extinguishers. I also saw a large propane tank. I quickly turned arouud to the southbound service road , parked my car in a safe spot, and told the PD that there was a propane tank involved and to relay to incoming units and keep . I shouted to the people to get away from the fire, their methods were futile, and come to the front of the building to safety. The owner let me know that there was another large propane tank in the back of the facility. Upon arrival of the first due engine, I let the officer know about this, and they made maneuvers to keep the fire away from the building as much as possible. They did not have a water supply besides the onboard tank, and later on in the incident mutual aid engines had to relay pump with 5 inch hoses for about half a mile, to the nearest hydrant south of the fire. Until then, most departments relied on their booster tankers. Round Rock FD, an urban department, has a tanker that responds with its brush truck. This water was used efficently enough to protect the building. Star Flight, our EMS-Fire-Rescue helicopter, provided aerial surveillance to the IC, and then initiated water drops. As of this writing, the fire is  100% contained and out. Numerous departments from Travis and Williamson County were on scene, and did an amazing job of keeping the fire contained despite the size and protecting numerous structures and civilians., and quickly containing the fire and extinguishing it.

I got some photos of these professionals in action, check out the link below to view my photos of the incident: 

x635 Photos-Goldstar Brush Fire 8-25-11

Lake Travis and the drought's effect

Lake Travis-Austin TX on 8-15-11...down 50 feet from it's normal level this time of year due to this exceptional drought we are experiencing....I wish Irene would bring her rain here, since the months and months of no rain is also creating a disaster.

Code 3 Collectibles Ceases Production

Very sad news. Code 3 has been dying in the past few years, mainly because of the extremly out of touch "leadership" of the company. They should have kept the original staff, or at least made an effort to, and kept to their enthusiastic original business model.  Instead, they incorporated it into Funrise, forced all the Code 3 leadership and staff out, jacked their prices up beyond the reach of their avergage customer, ceased any type of collector relations, and hasn't done any R&D since at least 2007. Hopefully, someone can pick this up and bring it back to what it used to be.

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Code 3 Collectibles Ceases Production

Van Nuys, CA, August 19, 2011 Matrix Holdings Limited, announces that 2011 will be the last year of production of Code 3 Collectible die-cast vehicles. The company, Code 3 Collectibles (www.code3.net), will continue to operate its online business in an effort to sell all remaining inventory until further notice.

Arnie Rubin, founder of Funrise Toy Corporation, launched Code 3 Collectibles in 1997, aiming to ignite the emotional chord between Funrise Toys and the "little kid" in "big kids" - the adult toy collector. Code 3 Collectibles focused on producing high quality, limited edition die-cast replicas of emergency and firefighting vehicles, but also held licenses to create collectibles for Smithsonian Air and Space Products, Star Wars licensed products and a line of 3-D movie posters under the brand Legendary Casts.

"We have been passionate about the Code 3 Collectibles brand since we launched in 1997. During that time, we have had an amazing connection with our collector base. We appreciated their passion and loyalty. Unfortunately, the recent economic downturn has made it extremely difficult to continue the high standards of manufacturing that has made Code 3 Collectibles who we are," said Arnie Rubin, CEO of Code 3 Collectibles.

Funrise Toy Corporation and Code 3 Collectibles are headquartered in Van Nuys, CA, and are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Matrix Holdings Limited. Arnie Rubin is both CEO of Funrise and Code 3 Collectibles, and Vice Chairman of Matrix. "

Ardsley losing Sunnydale Farms, Village Cafe

VERY sad! Sunnydale Farms, the Lunchonette, and Yogi's businesses played a tremendous role in my famly's lives for many years. Growing up, my family would eat in the lunchonette multiple times a week. Their newstand was awesome. My grandmother was part of the "regulars" there who ate there almost every day, and played numerous scratch off tickets.. And we all patronized Sunnydale for a variety of items.We knew everyone who worked there, and they showed genuine concern for my family. You would always run into someone else from Ardsley you knew. Another piece of  the"old Ardsley", that reflected it's former blue collar, working class village, is now history for a useless bank and resturant that serve wealthy inhabinants that have no idea how great Ardsley used to be.

ARDSLEY — When a major power outage hit the Northeast in 2003, business partners Jogi and Nirmal Singh turned on their generator and welcomed people into Sunnydale Farms, the convenience store they opened in 1973.

Nirmal Singh, who lives in Hartsdale, said he remembers customers coming into the store — the only business with power in the area — and putting their food in the store's massive walk-in cooler. Shoppers used flashlights to help look for canned goods and bread.

Next door to Sunnydale Farms is the Village Café, a retro luncheonette with counter seating and red leather booths. The Singhs acquired this business in the 1970s.

jetBlue Orders New Type Of Planes

Regarding: http://nycaviation.com/2011/06/jetblue-orders-40-new-airbus-a320neo-and-30-a321-aircraft-will-add-winglets-to-entire-fleet/

Although these new planes are awesome, and I want to see what new markets they open us, jetBlue has lost me as a loyal customer and fans

Photo Courtesy: jetBlue Press Release

They are no different then any other airline now. They constantly have performance problems, the customer service sucks, planes are filthy, and most of the time friends, family, and I have flown- the TV's didn't work or worked poorly. Since that's one of their main selling points, you'd think they would do something about that-especially since they own the company who installs and repairs these TV's! And the "free snacks"...you used to get a large portion of snacks and a full can of a beverage...now the snacks sizes are minicule, and they give you this tiny can for beverages.


They also don't have any plans to offfer Wi-Fi on board anytime soon.
We'll see how this pans out.....hopefully they will become the jetBlue I knew and loved once again. Not that I'm planning to travel anytime soon, but whenever I do,it will probaly be whoever has the direct flight at the lowest cost.

The Dodge Dakota Is Still In Production?

The Dodge Dakota is still in production?!?? I had a 2000 and a 2005 model with the V-8, and LOVED that truck, was perfect size, nice engine, nice interior options.....however, it still gets 14MPG.....really Dodge? You can't figure out a more fuel efficient engine? I'll stick with my 34MPG Ford Focus 2D SE until you do-but I'm not crossing my fingers. I'll wait until Ford comes out with a fuel efficient F-150...when money allows.

My New Uniden HomePatrol HP-1 And Car Mount

I had to sell my Uniden BCD 396T I got as a gift several years ago because it was too complicated for me and so were the digital systems....this brings back the fun of scanning...very easy and quick to use while on the road. I was waiting for the second generation HomePatrol but doesn't look like there is going to be one anytime soon.


So, with the proceeds from the BCD396T sale, I finally got a Uniden Home Patrol HP-1. This is how I mounted it in my car (2008 Ford Focus)..wanted easy accesiblity that I don't have to take my eyes off the road to look at. And, since I drive stick, it had to be out of the way of my armrest and shifter.

This is on a RAM mount flex arm that bolts to the seat bolt. This is the item and where I purchased it from:

http://www.mountguys.com/product_p/ram-b-316-1-238u.htm

And you need the mobile cradle which screws on to the ball/swivel mount. Very easy to remove from cradle and take to your desk:

http://www.mountguys.com/product_p/bckhp-1.htm

Fisher Price Now Makes Dog Toys

Otis was quite happy when he found out Fisher Price now makes dog toys!

Census: Residents leaving high-cost Westchester region

Census: Residents leaving high-cost Westchester region

By Tim Henderson • The Journal New  February 21, 2011



Seth Granville left his Lower Hudson Valley hometown in 2008 and hasn't looked back.
The price of his co-op in Hartsdale, about $250,000, bought a custom-built home in the suburbs of Austin, Texas.

"I'm never coming back," said Granville, 31, a paramedic and an Ardsley native. In fact, his mother has since moved down, and his wife, Kristen, is from Yorktown Heights.

He misses the commuter train, but not the $12,000 annual tax bill for his small apartment.

"My taxes are cheap, food is much more affordable and we've got basically all the things a big city has in a small city," Granville said.

"They can tell I'm from New York by my accent," Granville said. "But now my daughter (Madeleine, born in August) and my dog are both native Texans."

http://www.lohud.com/article/2011102210322

Census: Residents leaving high-cost region (Westchester)

Census: Residents leaving high-cost region

By Tim Henderson • February 21, 2011

Seth Granville left his Lower Hudson Valley hometown in 2008 and hasn't looked back.

The price of his co-op in Hartsdale, about $250,000, bought a custom-built home in the suburbs of Austin, Texas.

"I'm never coming back," said Granville, 31, a paramedic and an Ardsley native. In fact, his mother has since moved down, and his wife, Kristen, is from Yorktown Heights.

"They can tell I'm from New York by my accent," Granville said. "But now my daughter (Madeleine, born in August) and my dog are both native Texans."

http://www.lohud.com/article/2011102210322

Another Disturbing Dissapointment

Really dissapointed that I drove all the way to San Antonio tonight to see Disturbed, only to find out they cancelled due to an "emergency illness". I hope whomever is ill is getting better, and I wish them the best. However, I think the band would at least have posted something on Facebook or their site as to what happpened by now-there were a ton of pissed off fans.

The last two times I saw Disturbed they sucked anyways, David Draiman could hardly sing and barely had any stage presence or enthusiasm left that he used to have at his concerts, and now this.  Thanks to Monster Energy Drinks and their label for forcing Disturbed on a relentless touring schedule for the past few years, which I feel ruined David's voice and led to the cancellation of this show.

Hopefully, the rumors are true and he really does live in Austin,TX now and will play Frank Erwin Center or something for his new hometown......